What Shapes Abortion Attitudes Around the World

Professor Amy Adamczyk discusses why where you live can change how you see abortion on “The Thought Project” podcast.

February 26, 2026
Podcast: 46 minutes

Abortion attitudes can look deeply personal, but sociologist Amy Adamczyk’s research suggests they are also powerfully shaped by the places we live.

On this episode of The Thought Project, host Tanya Domi speaks with Adamczyk, a professor of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and John Jay College, about her award-winning book Fetal Positions: Understanding the Cross-National Public Opinion About Abortion. Drawing on survey data from over 200,000 people across 88 societies, plus interviews in the United States and China, Adamczyk unpacks why views about abortion vary so widely and why national context, especially religiosity and gender equality, can influence people’s attitudes even when their personal beliefs do not. She also discusses what is shifting in the U.S. after Dobbs, how China’s one-child policy still echoes in public opinion, and what her findings suggest about access, agency, and the future of reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/what-shapes-abortion-attitudes-around-world

26.02.2026

Interviews/Podcasts

Amy Adamczyk

public opinion on abortion

Dobbs Turned Abortion Into A Huge Liability For Republicans

Support for abortion rights is higher than it's been in decades.

By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
JUN. 22, 2023

When Theresa M. started attending a support group for breast cancer survivors, she didn’t expect political issues like abortion to be a part of the conversation. But since last summer, when her home state of Florida — freed from the requirements of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court — began imposing new abortion restrictions, younger women who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer started to voice concerns. “They worry if you find out you’re pregnant, you might have to stop your cancer treatment,” said Theresa, who is 58 and asked that her full name be withheld for personal reasons. “For some kinds of cancer, that’s a death sentence. But not an immediate death sentence, so you don’t get an abortion.”

Continued: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dobbs-abortion-opinion-liability-republicans/

22.06.2023

Commentary

Gallup poll on abortion

public opinion on abortion

public support for abortion

Abortion Attitudes in a Post-Roe World: Findings From the 50-State 2022 American Values Atlas

PRRI Staff
02.23.2023

In late June 2022, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade, reversing nearly five decades of precedent that had established a national right to abortion access. Republican-majority legislatures in several states had been chipping away at abortion rights for the past several years through increasingly strict regulations, but the Dobbs decision suddenly changed the policy landscape regarding reproductive rights, catapulting abortion to the forefront of American politics.

The immediate impact of repealing Roe v. Wade was that control over abortion law reverted to the states. Some states had “trigger laws” in place to immediately impose abortion restrictions in the event that Roe was overturned, while others had protections in place to keep abortion policy as it was under Roe. In other states, lawmakers went to work crafting legislation in response to Dobbs.

Continued: https://www.prri.org/research/abortion-attitudes-in-a-post-roe-world-findings-from-the-50-state-2022-american-values-atlas/

23.02.2023

News

abortion polls

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

PRRI

public opinion on abortion

public support for abortion

Roe v. Wade

United States

Canada – Survey finds support for status quo on abortion access, but programs warn about challenges

Thia James
Oct 13, 2022

The latest Taking the Pulse survey in Saskatchewan found 32.7 per cent of respondents believe abortion access is “good the way it is,” while 27.8 per cent believe it should be easier to access. Another seven per cent said they believe abortions are “too easily accessed” and 11.8 per cent said they believe there should be no abortions.

Saskatoon Sexual Health executive director Caitlin Cottrell is open about the barriers she faced in the past when she had to get a medically necessary pharmacological abortion due to an anembryonic pregnancy, where a fertilized egg implants but no embryo develops.

Continued: https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/taking-the-pulse-survey-finds-support-for-status-quo-on-abortion-access-but-programs-warn-about-challenges

USA – Will Shifts in Public Opinion Impact the Abortion Debate?

6/15/2021
by CLAIRE GOTHREAU, Ms. Magazine

Just over a week ago, the Supreme Court indicated they would hear a case that presents the most serious challenge to abortion access since 1992. The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization concerns Mississippi’s Gestational Act, which limits abortion to just the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. This law, if upheld, would be in direct violation of Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability, which is generally understood to be around 24 weeks. This is the first time the court will consider abortion rights since former President Trump appointed three conservative justices, giving conservatives the majority.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2021/06/15/public-opinion-abortion-debate-supreme-court-midterm-elections-republican-democrats-partisan/

USA – How Abortion Views Are Different

With the Supreme Court set to hear a major abortion case, we look at the state of public opinion.

By David Leonhardt, New York Times
May 19, 2021

For nearly 50 years, public opinion has had only a limited effect on abortion policy. The Roe v. Wade decision, which the Supreme Court issued in 1973, established a constitutional right to abortion in many situations and struck down restrictions in dozens of states.

But now that the court has agreed to hear a case that could lead to the overturning of Roe, voters and legislators may soon again be determining abortion laws, state by state. This morning’s newsletter offers a guide to public opinion on the subject.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/briefing/abortion-debate-public-opinion.html

19.05.2021

Commentary

Featured

David Leonhardt

gender gap on abortion

opinion polls on abortion

polls on abortion

public opinion on abortion

About six-in-ten Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases

BY HANNAH HARTIG
May 6, 2021

Abortion has long been a contentious issue in the United States, and it is one that sharply divides Americans along partisan, ideological and religious lines.

Today, a 59% majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. These views are relatively unchanged in the past few years. The latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted April 5 to 11, finds deep disagreement between – and within – the parties over abortion. In fact, the partisan divide on abortion is far wider than it was two decades ago.

Continued: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/

06.05.2021

Featured

News

abortion polls

opinion polls on abortion

Pew Research Center

public opinion on abortion

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North America

United States

Global Public Opinion About Abortion Is Shifting

Views on a thorny moral and medical issue are remarkably unsettled for a debate that has played out over generations.

By Ben Schott
September 18, 2020

Although the political debate surrounding abortion often seems most heated in the United States, recent data suggest that global public opinion on this thorny moral and medical issue is more fluid than one might think.

Ipsos has been tracking views on abortion annually since 2014. This year’s poll of 17,500 adults across 25 countries indicates that, on average, 70% think abortion should be permitted — down from 75% in 2016, and 2 percentage points lower than in 2014. (These figures include all abortion; when asked if abortion should be permitted “whenever a woman decides she wants one” the global acceptance rate falls to 44%.)

Continued: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-18/what-the-world-thinks-about-abortion

18.09.2020